NLA Action of material Mix Shader node FAC value
Found the answer:
Fade in action applicable to all objects (in cycles)

Keyframe the object's pass index from 0 to 100, use the object info node:object index output, connect to math(multiply) node with value of .01, connect to FAC value input on mix node.The object's pass index gets recorded in the NLA editor, so I have my action strip!